Intersection controlling apparatus for conveyers



glwwzntoa 2 Sheets-Sheet l \N a up Q A i 5 wfink/ i Sept. 6, 1932. F. STEBLER INTERSECTION CONTROLLING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS Filed July 22, 1929 a E N S aw QM wk RM 2 I I 3 YIIW. m a Q q.v h WEN m 1 n I1 ll 3 w :1! NM F. STEBLER Sept. 6, 1932.

INTERSECTION CONTROLLING APPARATUS FOR CONVEYERS Filed Jilly 22, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT a OFFICE v: FRED STEIBLER, OF RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO STEIBLERQPARKER CO., OF

'RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA, A GORPORATIONOF CALIFORNIA a nrnnsnc'rron coivrnorminenrnnnn'rus FOR convEYER-s This invention ,relatesto conveyers and while the invention maybe apphed to conveyersusedfor varlous purposes, it is 1ntendedto be particularly useful when apoperation ofthe lateral.

This permits the box on the main conveyer to. avoid collision with the boxes advancing from the lateral because the movement of the boxes on the lateral is'delayed until the'box on the main, conveyer has passed the mtersection. However, withjthe, apparatus de scribed above, it frequently happens, that the arrest of the movement of-the lateral conveyer will occur just at a time it is in the act of delivering a box to the main conveyer in r of this "type in which latera such a way that a box will be left standing on the lateral conveyer projecting into the path of the box. on'the main conveyer.

The generalob ject of this invention is to overcome this difficulty and to provide slmple means forinsuring that-when the, movev ment' of the lateral conveyer is arrested, no boxes can be left projecting into'the intersection'fso asto cause a collision with boxes moving forward on themain conveyer. I

A further object of the invention is to improve the general construction of conveyers ls ,deliverlinto a main conveyer. Further objects of-the invention will appear hereinafter. I The inventi on consists in the novel parts and combination ofparts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an eflicient intersection controlling apparatus for. conveyers. I

A. preferred embodiment of the, invention iSdescribed in the following specification,

Application filed July 22, 1929. semi 1%. 380,040.

while the broad scope of the invention-is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

, Fig. 1 is a plan of a conveyer apparatus 7 embodying my inventiona'nd showing a short section of a main convey-er together'with the adjacent end of. a lateral conveyer headlng intovit, a r i Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. I

Fig". 3 isa view showing a portion of the lateral conveyer in side elevation and the mam conveyer in cross-section as viewed from the plane of the line 33' of Fig. 1.

Before proceedingto a detailed descrip tion' of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it should be stated that according to my invention'Iprovide'means between the main conveyer which operates when the lateral conveyer'is arrested to advance any article-left standing at the end of the lateral conveyer and pass it on to the main -con-' veyer.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention'this conveyer means between the lat delivery endof the lat-eral conveyer and the prises a frame 3 supporting a continuously I driven belt 4 which belt is driven in the direction of the arrow indicated in Fig. 1, that is to say, from rightjto left. The lateral conveyer 2 may also be in the form of a continuously driven belt whichat its delivery end passes around a roller 5'supported in the'frame 6 of the lateral. V p

In applying my invention, I leave a con? siderable space between the roller 5 and the side of themain conveyer 1 and in this space I provide feeding means 7 for advancing an article left standing by the inhibition of the lateral conveyer. If this means 18 gravity controlled, then the level of the belt 2 would be slightly higher than the level of the belt 4- so as to insure eflicient movement by gravity of the box or other article onto the main conveyer.

As it is usual, however, for the laterals to be at the same level as the main conveyer, I prefer to provide intermediate conveyer means 7 which is positively driven.

In order to effect the driving of the lateral from the main conveyer and at the same time to effect its automatic control, I provide the main conveyer with a longitudinally extending shaft 8 which may run along below the level of the belt 4. This shaft afiords means for driving the shaft 9 of the roller to drive the lateral. Any suitable means may be employed for this purpose but in the present instance I have'indicated an endless chain 10 for accomplishing this, said chain running over sprocket wheels 11 and 12 located re: spectively on the shaft 8 and the shaft 9. In order to inhibit the action of the lateral 2 automatically by the presence of a box or other article passing along on the main conveyer and approaching the intersection indicated at 13, I prefer to mount the sprocket wheel 12 loose on the shaft 9 and provide a clutch 14 on this shaft including movable cone collar 15 which is. normally hold inwardly so as to keep the clutch closed, by means ofa coil spring 16. This cone is provided with an operating lever 17 of bell crank type having an arm 18 that extends across from the fulcrum pin 19 under the main conveyer 4 so as to bring its actuating end into position to be controlled automatically by a box passing along the conveyer 4. For this purpose I prefer to provide a rubbing bar 20 that is supported on the ends of two levers 21 and 22 that project into the space above the belt 4.

These levers preferably incline toward the direction the main belt 4 travels and are parallel with each other. These levers are pivotally mounted on suitable brackets 23 attached to the frame of the main conveyer. The lever 21 is attached to the upper end of a vertical shaft 24, the lower end of which carries rigidly a short arm 25 .with a slot 27 carrying a pin or bolt 26 that is mounted in the operating end of the lever 18. W 1th this construction and arrange V ment of parts, it will be evident that when a box coming along the conveyer 4 strikes the lever 22 and bar 20, it will swing the bar 20 in the direction of the arrow and this will rock the lever 21 in an anti-clockwise direction. This will swing the arm 25 in the same anti-clockwise direction and will cause the lever 17 to swing in the direction indicated by the arrow on it thereby opening the clutch 14. This will arrest the driving of the lat eral conveyer 2. The intermediate conveyer means 7 for advancing any box or article left standing by reason of the stopping of the conveyer 2 preferably consists of a short conveyer means composed of rollers and these rollers are preferably mounted so that they will support part of the weight of a box projecting beyond the end of the lateral conveyer deliver the box onto the main conveyer in the general direction in which that conan endless chain 32 that. is located to one side of the feeding means 7 and on the convex side of the adjacent curved bar 30, and passes over a sprocket wheel 38 on the shaft of the roller 28 that is farthest from the main conveyer 2 and whose shaft is substantially parallel with the shaft 8. The rotation of this roller 28 is communicated by a beveled gear 34 to an idle beveled gear 35 that in turn meshes with a beveled gear 36 on the shaft of the other roller 28. The idle bevel gear 35 may be carried on the end of a shaft or bar 37 the ends of which are supported in the side bars 30. These bevel gears are located on the concave side of the curved bar and on the side of the feeding means 7 toward which the main conveyer is moving. p It will be noted that the bars 30 are curved in a general direction around the point of intersection of the axes of the rollers 28, as a center. p

If desired, between the rollers 28 and the conveyer belt 4, a horizontal roller 38 maybe mounted on suitable brackets on the side of the main conveyer frame.

In order to accommodate boxes coming in from the lateral and prevent their being shoved off of the side of the conveyer belt 4 opposite to the lateral, I may provide a guard rail 39 of curved form and located as indicated in Fig. 1. Opposite this guard rail a guide roller 40 mounted to rotate on a fixed vertical axis may be provided to facilitate the guiding of the boxes from the lateral properly onto the main conveyer, and this roller of course in'doing this cooperates with the guard rail 39.

In the operation of this apparatus when a box traveling along the main conveyer 1 strikes the bar 20, it deflects it and thereby rotates the shaft 24 which swings the lever, 17 in a direction to open the clutch thereby stopping the movement of the belt 2 and any boxes located on the belt. If any of these boxes on the belt project over onto the conveyer means 7 they will be immediately ad- I being located adjacent to the delivery end vanced into the intersection 13 and onto the belt 4. This will occur before the box that has moved the bar 20 arrives at the intersection.

It is understood that the embodiment of the invention described herein is only one of the many embodiments this invention may take, and I do not wish to be limited in the practice of the invention, nor in the claims, to the particular embodiment set forth.

What I claim is:

1. In apparatus of the kind described, the combination of a continuously driven main conveyer, a lateral conveyer having its discharge end adjacent the main conveyer, automatic means controlled by an articleadvancing on the main conveyer for stopping the lateral conveyer to delay articles advancing on the same into the intersection with the main conveyer, roller means located in longitudinal alinement with the lateral conveyer and located between the discharge end of the lateral conveyer and the main conveyer so as to support part of the weight of an article on the end of the lateral conveyer and projecting beyond the end of the lateral conveyer, and means other than the article for positively driving the last-named roller means to effect the advance of any article projecting onto the same when the lateral conveyer 7 stops.

2. In apparatus of the kind described, the combination of a continuously driven main 7 conveyer, a lateral conveyer having its discharge end adjacent to the main conveyer, automatic means controlled by an article advancing on the main conveyer for stopping the lateral conveyer to delay articles advancing on the same into the intersection with the main conveyer, and feeding means located between the discharge end of the lateral conveyer and the main conveyer, said feeding means including a pair of driven rollers mounted with their axes convergingtoward each other and cooperating to deliver a box from the lateral conveyer on to the main conveyer in the general direction in which the main conveyer is moving, one of said rollers of the lateral conveyer so as to advance any article left standing on the lateral conveyer and projecting beyond its end, onto the main conveyer.

8. In apparatus of the kind described, the combination of a continuously driven main conveyer, a lateral conveyer having its discharge end adjacent to the main conveyer, automatic means controlled by an article advancing on the main conveyer for stopping the lateral conveyer to delay articles advancing on the same into the intersection with the main conveyer, a roller located adjacent the delivery end of the lateral conveyer, means for driving the same, a second roller located With lts axis on a llne intersecting the axis day of July, 1929.

FRED STEBLER. 

